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Jewish Cuisine in Hungary

A Cultural History with 83 Authentic Recipes

Andras Koerner author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Central European University Press

Published:30th Sep '19

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Jewish Cuisine in Hungary cover

Winner of the 2019 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Food Writing & Cookbooks Andras Koerner refuses to accept that the world of pre-Shoah Hungarian Jewry and its cuisine should disappear almost without a trace and feels compelled to reconstruct its culinary culture. His book-with a preface by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett-presents eating habits not as isolated things, divorced from their social and religious contexts, but as an organic part of a way of life. According to Kirshenblatt-Gimblett: "While cookbooks abound, there is no other study that can compare with this book. It is simply the most comprehensive account of a Jewish food culture to date." Indeed, no comparable study exists about the Jewish cuisine of any country, or, for that matter, about Hungarian cuisine. It describes the extraordinary diversity that characterized the world of Hungarian Jews, in which what could or could not be eaten was determined not only by absolute rules, but also by dietary traditions of particular religious movements or particular communities. Ten chapters cover the culinary traditions and eating habits of Hungarian Jewry up to the 1940s, ranging from kashrut (the system of keeping the kitchen kosher) through the history of cookbooks, and some typical dishes. Although this book is primarily a cultural history and not a cookbook, it includes 83 recipes, as well as nearly 200 fascinating pictures of daily life and documents.

"Read­ers look­ing for a typ­i­cal cook­book may be alarmed when they dig into this gor­geous vol­ume. While the sub­ti­tle adver­tis­es eighty-three authen­tic recipes, nei­ther many of the ingre­di­ents (goose, carp, giblets, boiled beef) nor the tech­niques (stuff­ing goose necks, mak­ing pud­ding from smoked beef) seem par­tic­u­lar­ly acces­si­ble. Yet this book is quite irresistible. Beyond the hon­esty and charm, it’s Koerner’s com­mit­ment to defy­ing Nazi destruc­tion, to sav­ing Hun­gar­i­an Jew­ish cul­ture, that makes this book so com­pelling. Jew­ish Cui­sine in Hun­gary is right­eous scholarship."

* Jewish Book Council *

"Andras Koerner, author of Jewish Book Award-winning Jewish Cuisine in Hungary, uses untouched culinary traditions to explore centuries of cultural history before the Holocaust. The 2019 Jewish Book Award in the inaugural category of food writing and cookbooks has been given to 'Jewish Cuisine in Hungary' by Andras Koerner. As Koerner told The Times of Israel in a phone conversation, the book 'offers a cultural history of the diversity of Hungarian Jewish cuisine before 1945.'” https://www.timesofisrael.com/flavor-of-prewar-hungarian-jewish-life-captured-in…

-- Rich Tenorio * The Times of Isra

  • Winner of National Jewish Book Award (Food Writing & Cookbooks category) 2019

ISBN: 9789633862735

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

420 pages

Annotated edition